Soviet Papers Print Complaints From West

MOSCOW — Pravda, the authoritative newspaper of the ruling Soviet Communist Party, apparently has broken precedent by printing a letter of protest from the U.S. Embassy.

As might be expected, Pravda rejected the criticism and accused the author, Minister-Counselor Richard Combs, of trying to encroach upon ''freedom of the press'' in the Soviet Union.

But Western diplomats said that it was remarkable that Combs' letter was printed at all.

The exchange centered on a story in the May 7 edition of Pravda suggesting that the CIA arranged the bombing of a West Berlin nightclub that led to an American relatiatory air strike against Libya.

Combs, who is acting head of the embassy in the absence of Ambassador Arthur Hartman, fired off a strong complaint to Pravda editor Victor Afanasiev.

''I am frankly astonished that a responsible newspaper, the organ of the ruling party of the Soviet Union, should believe these lies and give them space on its pages,'' Combs wrote.

Pravda replied, objecting to the tone of the letter and the assertion that the U.S. Embassy would in the future keep an eye on the paper's contents.

Last week, the government newspaper Izvestia published a letter from the West German ambassador complaining about the newspaper's criticism of West German government actions to restrict food imports from Eastern Europe after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster in the Soviet Ukraine.

Veteran Kremlin-watchers said that they could not remember when complaints from foreigners were ever published in the Soviet newspapers.